Mining

China's control of rare minerals has the power to disrupt the US economy

Speculators are wary of Chinese export restrictions on rare earth minerals. Here's why their near-control of the market poses a risk to the United States.

How the European Union's protectionism is hurting developing economies

EU lobbies are protecting unsustainable industries at the expense of free trade and poverty alleviation.

Sand mining 'mafias' destroying environment, livelihoods - UN

Extraction in rivers and beaches has increased pollution and flooding, lowered groundwater levels, hurt marine life, and exacerbated the occurrence and severity of landslides and drought, UN says.

France's neo-colonial ‘War on Terror’ in Mali

French-backed militarisation in Mali is aimed at protecting its economic interests, and only compounds Mali's problems.

Landslide buries dozens at illegal gold mine in Indonesia

Local disaster official Abdul Muin Paputungan said one person was confirmed dead and 14 people with injuries ranging from light to serious had been rescued. As many as 60 people were buried, he said.

Order evicting over a million Indian forest dwellers sparks protests

Indigenous people protest against a court order to evict more than 1.3 million tribals accused of encroaching on forest lands.

At least 23 miners working illegally feared dead in Zimbabwe mine flood

Illegal gold miners in Battlefields, 175 kilometres west of Harare, entered shafts on land owned by RioZim and another firm on Tuesday night in search of gold, but a dam wall nearby collapsed, flooding the shafts and tunnels, local media report.

Russia, Iran and the widening trust deficit in Syria

Russia and Iran have cooperated for years to ensure the survival of Bashar al Assad's regime in Syria but as the war winds down, are the two countries competing for a different future in Syria?

Brazilian environmental group tests water after dam collapse

Authorities say a total of 110 bodies had been recovered and 238 others are listed as missing following a dam collapse in Brazil last week.

Brazil mining dam collapse hits indigenous water supply

Muddy change to Brazil's Paraopeba river, as result of the dam collapse that occurred last Friday, is reaching an indigenous community in the region, contaminating its water supply.

Anger grows in Brazil as death toll from dam disaster hits 60

Iron ore miner Vale SA and regulators under fire after a mine dam collapse in Brumadinho town killed dozens and left some 300 others unaccounted for.

Search for Brazil dam survivors renews as death toll hits 58

The Civil Defense office in Minais Gerais state raised the confirmed death toll to 58, with up to 300 people still missing following the avalanche of iron ore waste from a mine on Friday.